Cater to Consumer Behavior: Create Video Content Specifically for Mobile Users

Flimp Media Video Solutions: The following is a guest post authored by Hannah Brenzel, Content Marketing Associate at ViralGains, Inc.

Everyone you know owns a mobile device whether it’s a smartphone, tablet or laptop. Currently, over 56 percent of all American adults are smartphone owners and 34 percent own tablet computers. With these devices, Americans watch millions of online videos everyday. In fact, it’s a preferred activity for many mobile users. In the first quarter of 2013, 73 percent of PC users, 65 percent of tablet users, and 60 percent of mobile phone users watched at least one video clip on their device.

Despite these statistics, many marketers continue to rely on traditional media outlets, predominately television, as a way to reach consumers.  When advertisers attempt to transition into online video marketing, they tend to repurpose TV content for digital video advertising. This can be problematic as content details may be lost on smaller screens.

Also, online video content should be created specifically for the web.  Consumers on smartphones are not going to sit through a :15 or :30 second pre-roll ad. Mobile device users crave fast bursts of information.  Marketers need to cater to these viewing behaviors.

It is also important to note how user experiences differ from tablet to smartphone. Tablets offer a more relaxing browsing experience.  In contrast, smartphones are commonly used to urgently seek relevant information. Marketers need to create device-specific video communications.

Here are tips for producing digital video content for mobile devices:

Tablets

Marketers should not shy away from long-form content.  Ooyala’s Q1 Global Video Index reveals that tablet users spend 52 percent of total video viewing time watching videos longer than 10 minutes. Produce a video with strong storytelling and deliver an in-depth brand message through long-form content.

A tablet’s larger screen also enables video producers to create creative and beautifully designed content.  Employ high resolution videos to create a seamless user experience. Be fashionable, artistic and informative.

Smartphones

Similar to online video advertising and web video marketing, shorter is better when developing videos for smartphone users.  A video less than two minutes is ideal. Remember the shorter the video, the quicker the load time. Organizations cannot afford to lose viewers because the video takes too long to load. Viewer attention spans are shrinking; the quicker a message can get across, the better.

From a design perspective, think small. Mobile videos should be about 320 to 640 pixels wide to guarantee proper viewing on small smartphone screens and to minimize download time.  Remember this during the video production stage to ensure that details do not get lost.

Both

If a video needs to be view across all mobile devices, avoid Flash. Use HTML5 to ensure that the video content can be viewed easily on smaller mobile screens. Include clear calls to action with social media share buttons, a brand URL or even a link. Use mobile video to generate conversations: follow up with viewers and interact through social media.

Ultimately, mobile video allows communicators to drive brand engagement, improve consumer-brand relationships and connect with users through their preferred channel. Make it easy for people to interact with content by tailoring video to specific mobile devices. Do this and maximize content distribution while fostering wide-spread brand awareness.

Flimp Media video solutions provide end-to-end video production and communications, marketing, and sales solutions to increase clients’ ROI. Viral Gains creates authentic relationships between consumers and advertisers through the power of online video.

Flimp Media and Viral Gains enjoy a relationship to better educate everyone on the value of using video communications for their company and/or organization to excite, engage, and educate their target audience and clientele with their brand, mission, and product offerings.